Territory



(No Model.)

R. J. CHILCOTT.

STIRRUP.

No. 567,334. Patented Sept. 8, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REUBEN J. CIIILCOTT, OF BEAVER, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

STIRRU P.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 567,334, datedSeptember 8, 1896. Application filed October 11,1394. Serial No,525.610. lNo modela To all whom it r11/ay concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN J. CHrLco'rT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Beaver, in the county of Beaver and Territory of Oklahoma,have invented a new and useful Stirrup, ol' which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to stirrups, and has for its object to provide asimple, inexpensive, and eiiieient riding-stirrup in which the`foot-rest is capable of oscillatorymovement to accommodate themovements of the rider`s foot, said foot-rest being mounted to givefreedom of movement without unnecessary wear, and whereby the part whichis exposed to the main portion of the wear is replaceable at a smallcost.

Further ob jects and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a stirrup constructedin accordance with my invention. Fig. is a vertical centrai section ofthe same, taken parallel with the axis of the foot-rest. Fig. 3 is adetail view in perspective of the toot-rest. Fig. l is a similar viewol' the sleeve upon which the foot-rest rotates.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures ofthe drawings.

The body portion of the improved stirrup consists of side arms l,connected at their upper ends by a preferably integral eye 2 andseparated at their lower ends l'or the reception of a foot-rcst Thelower extremities of said side arms, between which the foot-rest isarranged, are parallel, as shown at fl.

Through suitable alined openings in the parallel portions l of the sidearms extends a pivot-bolt o, having an angular portion (i litting in asimilarly-eonstrueted open ing in one of the arms to prevent rotation ofthe bolt and iitted at the other end with a nut 7, by means of which thelower extremities ol the side arms may be adj usted toward each other.Inward adjustment of the side arms olf the stirrup is limited by aspacing-sleeve ll ,which fits snugly upon the portion of the boltbetween said arms and bears at its extremities against the innersurfaces of the parallel por tions a, said sleeve being of greaterlength than the foot rest 3 in order to project slightly beyond theextremities of said footrest and hold the latter out of Contact with theinner surfaces of the side arms. In order to insure the tight fitting ofthe spacingsleeve upon the bolt between the lower extremities of theside arms, said sleeve is split longitudinally, as shown clearly in Fig.i, and the bore of the foot-rest is oi larger diameter than the exteriordimensions of the sleeve to provide for the free rotation of thefoot-rest upon the sleeve. It is obvious that the sleeve will be heldstationary by the bearing of its extremities against the inner surfacesof the side arms, the latter being held in engagement with theextremities of the sleeve by means of: said bolt, and hence said sleevewill receive the greater portion oi' the wear and may be replaced whennecessary to insure a proper bearing For the foot-rest. Furthermore, thewearing away or enlarging of the bore oi the :foot-resi may becompensated for by the use oi' a sleeve ot larger exterior diameter, andinasmuch as said sleeve does not rotate upon the bolt it will be obviousthat the strength oi' the bolt cannot become impaired, and hence thefoot-rest will not be liable to displacement when subjected to strainsof unusual severity.

The upper side .fl of the foot-rest is cutaway to form a transverselyIlatand. longitud inallyconcaved surface, the lower side H of thefootrest being correspondingly convexed, and therefore increased inweight, whereby when released the toot-rest assumes its normal positionwith the concavcd surface uppermost.

'lhefreedom of movement of the foot-rest, as above described, inaddition to accommodating the various positions oi' the `foot of therider, allows the disengagement of the foot from the stirrup withfacility in case the rider is thrown from the sadd le to avoid thedangers, such as dragging, duc to the entanglementof the foot.

A sleeve used substantially in the position described by me, which isnot split longitudinally, as stated7 could not be made to lit snuglyupon the bolt, and hence there would be a certain amount el' wear uponthe bolt, which ultimately would cause breakage of the ICO latter incase the stirrnp were subjected to an unusual strain; but by splittingsaid sleeve the immovability of this part is assured, and hence the boltis entirely relieved of wear. Furthermore, the interval between thecontiguous edges of the sleeve forms an efficient reservoir or channelfor a lubricant to prevent the bindingof the foot-rest, and,furthermore, said space or interval forms a means of egress for sand,dust, and similar substances which may find entrance to the bore of thefoot-rest through the intervals between the extremities of the foot-restand the inner surfaces of the side arms.

An important feature of the invention to be noted in connection with thesleeve l1 is that the interval formed by the longitudinal split of thesleeve is flared or enlarged at the ends of the sleeve to admit of theready introduction of a lubricant at the ends of the foot-rest 3, whileat the same time facilitating the egress of sand, dust, and the likefrom the narrow portion of the split.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what l claim is- A sti rrup eomlnisingopposite side arms, a stationary transverse bolt connecting said sidearms at one end, a metal spacing-sleeve snugly embraein g the bolt andbearing at its ends against the inner surfaces of said side arms, saidsleeve being longitudinally split from end to end so as to tightly litthe bolt and form a longitudinal oil-channel and having the channelformed bythe split flared or enlarged at the ends of the sleeve tofacilitate lubrication and the egress of sand or dust, and a foot-restloosely mounted on the sleeve and having' a larger bore than the diamcter ol' the sleeve, said rest being of a shorter length than thesleeve so as to freely oscillate and expose the flared or enlargedterminals ol' the oil-channel, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own l have hereto allixedn1 y si gnatu re in the presence of two witnesses.

KEUKEN JA UIULCOT'I. lVitnesses:

Axonnw M. LENNER, .Tanon TnoMAs.

